Piano Reverb For Commercial Recording ???

[DigitalMusicProduction]

Hi

Should I be using a dry or wet reverb for a commercial recording? Music genre soundtracks solo Piano. I know its all about personal preference but at the same time I feel a dry reverb can sound a little plain and dull as opposed to a wet reverb bringing much more life to the music. My intention is to deliver the best sound output possible and not too over do it with such a wide reverb. Maybe a consensus opinion on what the majority of consumers would prefer would be helpful.

Thanks.

[Drew Stephenson]

My starting point would be to have a look at what the competition are doing, but personally I'd err towards the dry side, a nice sounding room perhaps. A customer can always add more reverb but it's much harder to remove it.
It might be worth considering making a completely dry copy (no reverb at all) available as well.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Should I be using a dry or wet reverb for a commercial recording?

The term 'dry' normally means 'no reverb'.

I presume you really mean short/ early reflections as opposed to long/ambient reverbs.

I know its all about personal preference...

It is. Exactly that.

I feel a dry reverb can sound a little plain and dull as opposed to a wet reverb bringing much more life to the music.

There you go. That's your preference.

Go for it.

Maybe a consensus opinion on what the majority of consumers would prefer would be helpful.

It's what YOU prefer that matters... but if you want an opinion you'll have to post some clips to audition with your different reverb options on a relevant typical piece of music.

[Martin Walker]

Good suggestions from Drew and Hugh!

From your own thoughts I'd tend to go somewhere in the middle, not a small room, but an intimate acoustic that might also be used for a string quartet/chamber music, and not a concert hall acoustic where the piano might sound great with an accompanying orchestra but swamped on its own unless closely miked.

Martin

[The Elf]

It's all about context. A slow, soft piano piece might enjoy a huge, soft reverb, and an up-tempo piece might need a short reverb to let it breath. Only you can decide; and that is truly your job as the producer - to decide *for* your audience.

There's no such thing as a 'dry reverb' - dry/wet relates to the 0-100% balance between direct source and reverb.

[MarkOne]

I love that CHristian Henson of Spitfire Audio calls reverb ‘Splosh’ It’s such a descriptive way to think about reverb. Do you want loads of Splosh, or just a small amount?

[Guest]

Just a heads-up: PSP Pianoverb is a free plugin you could play around with. Certainly worth a try.

[Arpangel]

Depends on the music, but for most of what I would call "normal" straight ahead piano music, nothing extreme, I’d always go for the minimum reverb you can get away with, preferably, if possible, recording with microphones in a suitable space.
If you’ve got to use artificial reverb, then choose something that has a natural sound, that blends with the music, rather than sits on top of it, an Eventide Dense Reverb isn’t going to be the obvious choice, but maybe a TC Hall may fit the bill, but there are always surprises, I made a piano album of Classical/New Age piano recordings, and I used an Eventide Dense Reverb preset, it sounded just right, but it was barely there, just added a bit of space.

[Martin Walker]

it was barely there, just added a bit of space.

Just the ticket!

That old advice about 'dial in the amount until you think it's about right, then back it off a bit' can work in so many cases. It's only when you then remove it that you realise that is WAS still audible and supporting your sounds, but without being obvious.

Martin

[DigitalMusicProduction]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses.

I've been recording with the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand from Abbey Road Studios using the natural acoustic sound environment of Abbey Roads studio 1. This in itself sounds well, but it was Logics ChromaVerb Concert Hall that seemed to add a little more life to the music, these were the two reverb types i was considering.

ARS sound engineers state the benchmark standard reverb depth for a professional piano recording is 2.3 seconds, this is what AR1's natural acoustic reverb environment is set at, i assume mostly for classical recordings, but i suppose it can also be used for othere types of Piano recordings and is not exclusive to classical alone.

[Arpangel]

There is a reverb that’s just made for acoustic pianos, outside of a real space, and a lot of engineers I’ve come across agree, it’s one of the presets in the Yamaha SPX90, can’t remember exactly but it’s either a Hall, or Plate preset, I’d have to ask my friend who has one, it's just perfect, it just sounds right, fabulous. These units are classics, and were often bought for just a couple of presets, pitch de-tune, and this reverb.

[RichardT]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses.

I've been recording with the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand from Abbey Road Studios using the natural acoustic sound environment of Abbey Roads studio 1. This in itself sounds well, but it was Logics ChromaVerb Concert Hall that seemed to add a little more life to the music, these were the two reverb types i was considering.

ARS sound engineers state the benchmark standard reverb depth for a professional piano recording is 2.3 seconds, this is what AR1's natural acoustic reverb environment is set at, i assume mostly for classical recordings, but i suppose it can also be used for othere types of Piano recordings and is not exclusive to classical alone.

For solo piano, it’s fine to use no added reverb at all, if the piano (as yours is) is recorded in a great natural acoustic. I use the ‘Noire’ Library by NI which is also a Yamaha CFX, recorded in its home studio. I really like the natural sound without added reverb.

[The Elf]

Forget all these numbers. This is music - not a chemical formula. What do *your* ears tell you? What do *you* want your audience to hear?

[Hugh Robjohns]

ARS sound engineers state the benchmark standard reverb depth for a professional piano recording is 2.3 seconds

That would be an idiotic thing to 'state', since the appropriate reverb depends enormously on the style and tempo of the music, and the required acoustic perspective.

[Arpangel]

Forget all these numbers. This is music - not a chemical formula. What do *your* ears tell you? What do *you* want your audience to hear?

Tsk, yes, it’s about time we stopped giving them what "they" want, instead of what "we" want.

[mammy]

I hope that helps to you.
https://youtu.be/Ml2q8tRq-Zc

[OK1]

I love that CHristian Henson of Spitfire Audio calls reverb ‘Splosh’ It’s such a descriptive way to think about reverb. Do you want loads of Splosh, or just a small amount?

Its the word I use now. Fantastic fun word, even though its not exactly onomatopoeic, its such an apt descriptive word. - Splosh...